


Treat Me Like Your Boyfriend

by failedcharismacheck



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Coming Out, Fake/Pretend Relationship, First Kiss, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-03
Updated: 2017-07-03
Packaged: 2018-11-22 07:32:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11375523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/failedcharismacheck/pseuds/failedcharismacheck
Summary: "So the annual Dameron family reunion is this weekend. You know what that means," Poe says, looking as forlorn as one can while chewing a french fry."You're gonna bring back some of that bomb-ass macaroni your cousin makes?" Finn suggests hopefully from across the booth."Well, sure. But what I was gonna say was 'I get interrogated by my aunts about never having a girlfriend'. Which would be annoying even if it wasn't for the whole gay thing."(Poe needs a pretend boyfriend. Finn is a helpful kind of guy. For Day 2 of Stormpilot Week)





	Treat Me Like Your Boyfriend

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this pretty fast so it might be very very bad. Also there's like two Spanish sentences and I haven't tried to speak spanish in like four years so those might be bad too. The title is from Tegan and sara's "Boyfriend"

"So the annual Dameron family reunion is this weekend. You know what that means," Poe says, looking as forlorn as one can while chewing a french fry. He'd driven their little clique to their favorite diner, one that they'd commandeered as an after school hangout on the days that senior privilege allowed them to leave early.

"You're gonna bring back some of that bomb-ass macaroni your cousin makes?" Finn suggests hopefully from across the booth.

"Well, sure. But what I was gonna say was 'I get interrogated by my aunts about never having a girlfriend'. Which would be annoying even if it wasn't for the whole gay thing."

"You _are_ getting pretty old." Jessika says. "They're probably trying to get great-nieces and nephews before it's too late. Your reproductive system's gonna dry up."

"Since when is 18 old? I'm exactly three months older than you, Pava. And my reproductive system is working just fine for my purposes." Finn chokes on his drink.

"Jess, can we not talk about Poe's reproductive system? I'm eating," Rey says.

"Sorry, babe." Rey steals a fry off her plate in retribution. Poe does too, because he can.

"I mean, I love my family of course. My aunts are nice ladies and they mean well but it's just..." Poe puts on a voice that that sounds like a poor imitation of a middle aged woman. "Poe, why haven't you brought any girls to meet us? A handsome young man like you should have at least one girlfriend at your age! Why haven't we met her? ¿Estás avergonzado por tus tías? Now, listen to me complain about my menopause. Speaking of reproductive systems drying up."

"What do you tell them?" Jess asks.

"About their menopause?"

Finn flicks a crumpled up straw wrapper at him. It lands somewhere in his hair. "About not having a girlfriend, dork."

"I dodge like I'm in the fucking Matrix. They probably think I'll be valedictorian with as much as I've been 'just focused on school.'" Finn laughs just a little too loud at that and Poe turns to him. "I'm sorry, is today Roast Poe Dameron Day? I forgot to check my calendar."

"That's every day, my dude," Jess says.

"It comes from a place of affection and friendship," Finn adds. Poe maybe believes it coming from him. Jess, however, he's convinced is pure evil, but also his oldest friend so she can get away with it.

"Do you plan on telling your family about the gay thing?" Rey asks.

Poe shrugs. "I don't know, I never really planned on coming out with like, an announcement or whatever. I don't even know how to go about doing that. I always figured I'd just show up with a boyfriend one day and let them piece it together themselves."

"Maybe you should hurry up and ask somebody out," Jess says with a pointed glance towards Finn that he thankfully didn't seem to notice. Poe throws a french fry at her only for her to catch it in her (much too big, metaphorically speaking) mouth and wink. Fine, maybe he'd been harboring a crush on Finn for nearly a year, but Finn didn't need to know that.

"I could be your girlfriend. Pretend obviously, because I've already got one of those," Rey says, bumping her shoulder against Jessika's. "But it could be kind of fun. It would be like being undercover. All stealthy-like."

"Rey, you know I would be honored to have you as my beard, as you're a beautiful woman and the only person at this table who is remotely nice to me, but I feel like making them think I'm straight at all wouldn't help me in the long run."

"I'm plenty nice to you. I'm a delight to be around," Finn argues, which Poe can't really deny. Finn seems to hesitate for a beat before adding, "You could bring me."

"Wait, really?" Poe turns bodily to face Finn in the booth next to him. "You'd seriously be down to pretend to date me?"

Finn toys with the corner of his paper placemat. "Yeah, you want a guy to meet your family. I'm a guy. So bring me. Simplest solution, it sounds like."

"A reverse beard of sorts," Jessika says. "I like it."

"Yeah, okay. It's a plan." Poe smiles slowly. "We're gonna do this."

"We're gonna do this," Finn repeats, both the words and the smile. Out of the corner of his eye, Poe sees Rey and Jess nudging each other excitedly. He ignores them.

"But I gotta ask, are your motives macaroni based?"

"They're not _not_ macaroni based," Finn answers.

~

When Finn arrives at Poe's house on the day of his family reunion, it's Kes Dameron who answers the door. He lets Finn in with the easy familiarity of someone used to recurrent houseguests.

"Poe's still getting ready. You know how he is with the..." He waves at hand around his hair.

Finn laughs as he follows Kes into the kitchen. "Oh, I know."

"Did you eat yet, Finn? It's a long drive, you might get hungry."

"I'm fine, sir," Finn says. Kes has long since stopped reminding him he doesn't have to call him 'sir'. He pours Finn a glass of orange juice anyway.

"So... The two of you are an item now, huh?" Kes asks with his characteristically broad, warmly paternal smile. This particular one conveys a hint of amusement too. Finn's never seen him look so much like his son.

Poe must not have clued Kes in on their little ruse. Finn stalls with a long swig of juice. "Um, yeah. So you're okay with that?"

"Of course, Finn, of course," he says, giving Finn's shoulder a gentle shake. Kes was the only family member who knew that Poe was gay. Or at least he was before today. He leans in as if sharing a secret. "I always knew Poe liked you. He's not very good at secrets. I'm very happy for you boys."

Finn feels his face get hot. "Thanks." He wonders if Kes is able to see through him like that too.

Poe comes down the stairs and slides into the kitchen (his hair looking the perfect amount of carefully arranged messiness), greeting Finn by downing the rest of his orange juice and ignoring Kes's tsking at his rudeness.

Finn wonders if he's already supposed to take his hand or kiss him or something. He wasn't sure how exactly to be a convincing fake boyfriend. He didn't have much experience being a real boyfriend either. That would have probably come in handy right about now.

Poe pokes him in the side. "You ready to hang out with some old people?"

~

Kes's Chevy pulls them up to a smallish house, complete with flower beds and a porch swing, old in the quaint sort of way that makes it "lived-in". This part of the state is more rural than Finn's used to, but the bustling of an entire extended family packed into one home and spilling out into the yard makes up for the quiet.

"Hold my hand?" Poe requests, looking more nervous than Finn's ever seen him. Even though Finn know's it's pretend and Poe's hand is sweating, it's still nice.

Everyone handles it well. There are a few "Oh!"s of surprise, a raised eyebrow or two, a small child who has to be told that yes, sometimes boys have boyfriends. But no one has anything bad to say. Finn receives hugs and welcomes to the family and a plate piled high with food. Poe is visibly relieved and Finn is happy to have a part in that. Poe's aunts are just happy he finally brought someone home. He barely lets go of Finn's hand the whole afternoon.

Finn is struck by how much everyone seems to like each other. And they seem to like him too. He doesn't like to talk about his own family. There really isn't much to talk about even if he wanted to, but what he does have is nothing like this. There's loud, raucous laughter in every room. People ask him about himself, his plans for after graduation, how he met Poe. Poe's little cousins run around, weaving between adults and singing Disney songs. At some point someone hands him a baby, and Poe comes to his rescue when it becomes clear Finn has no idea how to hold it.

Towards the end of the evening, an uncle drags Poe off to show him something about a car he's rebuilding, leaving Finn by himself. He wanders outside to the porch swing he'd been admiring earlier. Inside, Poe's aunts are gathered around a table and chatting in Spanish. Every once in a while, Finn sees them watching him through the open window. He smiles at them and they all smile back. He's almost certain they're talking about him, and while they've been nothing but nice, he's curious as to what they're saying. He regrets taking German for his foreign language credits now.

"Mind if i sit?" Poe appears suddenly, startling Finn more than he would care to admit. He laughs as he sits down, closer than he normally would. Without thinking, Finn slings his arm around Poe's shoulders. He doesn't know why he did it, it just felt right. He almost moves it back but Poe doesn't seem to mind. If anything he nestles closer.

For a moment, Finn forgets why he's there. That they're just playing pretend. That the guy he's holding as they lazily sway forward and back is just his good friend and nothing more, though it doesn't feel like it. Especially not now. The group of women inside giggle and Finn looks up.

Poe takes pity on him and leans in close to whisper, "They're talking about how handsome you are and how they wish they'd snatched someone like that up when they were my age because their husbands are all fat and gray now."

Finn gives him a gentle shove. "You're messing with me."

Poe laughs. "No, I'm not. I promise. 'Su novio guapo nuevo'. That's you."

"What does that mean?"

"'His handsome new boyfriend.'" Finn thinks he might be a little red, but it's hard to tell in the growing dark.

They sway to a stop until Finn pushes them into motion again. The swing creaks with their combined weight but neither of them pay it any mind. "I like your family."

"Yeah. I joke about them a lot but they're good people. And I think they may have adopted you. So you might be stuck with us."

"I think I'm okay with that." They're quiet for a moment, listening to the white noise of crickets and cars and the chattering of Poe's family. The silence is comfortable and companionable until Finn breaks it. "But you really weren't kidding about the menopause talk. I'm so glad I'll never have to experience hot flashes."

Poe's laugh is sudden and loud and Finn can feel it shake through his body.

~

As they leave, Poe watches Finn get pulled into a hug by almost every member of his family. He almost apologizes on their behalf, the Damerons are a touchy-feely bunch, but Finn seems to enjoy it. He deserves a lot of hugs, in Poe's opinion. After they say their last goodbyes, Kes tosses Poe his car keys.

"This is why people have children; so they can get tipsy at family parties and have someone to drive them home," Kes laughs. He lays down across the back seat and is asleep before long. They're halfway home when he starts snoring.

"If I ever snore like that, smother me with a pillow," Poe says solemnly.

"You do snore like that. And I've considered it."

Poe puts on his best offended face. "I do not snore."

"Dude, I've spent the night at your house how many times? You absolutely snore."

"Lies and slander."

It's dark by the time they reach Finn's house. Poe supposes he should be a good fake boyfriend and walk Finn to his door. Kes will be fine sleeping in the car for an extra minute or two.

"Thank you for today. It went a lot better than I expected and I think it's partly because they all liked you so much," he says as Finn digs his keys out of his pocket.

"Anytime. Really." It's the genuineness in his voice that finally makes Poe break.

He takes a deep breath. "So listen. This--" He gestures between the two of them. He takes another deep breath and words start pouring out faster than Finn can probably catch them. "This is good, right? And I like this, this is great and I don't want to ruin it but I really, really like you so much and I have for kind of a long time and today felt really good even though I know we were pretending and I think maybe it felt good for you too or it least it seemed like it and tell me if I'm off base here but I just really-- I really want--"

He cards a hand through his hair. Why was this so hard? He opened his mouth to speak again. "I--"

Finn cuts him off with the brightest smile he's ever seen. "I like you too."

Poe is stunned into silence for a moment, both by the smile and the meaning of what he just said. "...Cool, cool, so, just to clarify, do you mean you like me as in--"

Finn rolls his eyes but the smile stays put. "You fucking dork, I like you as in I want you to kiss me right now, please."

Poe has to laugh a little at himself, at both of them, at the whole situation before he cups Finn's face and kisses him under the light of Finn's front porch.

**Author's Note:**

> In high school one of my straight friends offered to pretend to be my gf so my aunts would stop asking me why I didn't have a boyfriend yet. So shoutout to her for inspiring this fic kinda. And shoutout to my aunts for not having a gaydar


End file.
